The field erupts in cheers as Gracie kicks the ball into the net, sliding it past the other team's poor goalie solidifying the team's second win. My throat is sore from cheering this whole game, but I keep yelling, encouraging my team even during these last few minutes. Gracie shoots me a cute grin, and my heart does a flip.
The whistle blows, signaling the end of the game and my team's win, and warm arms are suddenly around my shoulders, pulling me in from behind. I lean into the hard chest behind me, already knowing who it is.
Gray kisses my hair. "Good job, babe," he says in my ear.
"You know I wasn't the one playing, right?" I tease. "You should be congratulating the real MVP over there."
I nod toward where Gracie is standing in a crowd of her friends, laughing and talking with them. But even in the energetic swarm of kids, Gracie seems to be paying particularly close attention to one kid - Liam. The way they're playfully joking around with each other is adorable.
"Why is he standing so close to Gracie?" He asks, noticing the Gracie-Liam interaction as well. "Maybe I should go over there and beat his ass."
I laugh. "It may be a little early for the boy talk. Liam's like eight. He doesn't look like your usual target. He might be too strong to take shit from you."
"I could take him," he says, jokingly serious. Even though he'd never actually beat a child up, I have no doubt that Gray is actually concerned about Gracie having a little crush.
I pat his arm. "I'm sure you could, babe."
Then someone clears their throat next to us, bringing Gray and I out of our conversational bubble. My head snaps in that direction, and I'm hardly surprised by who I see.
"Well aren't you two just adorable," Violet says sweetly, a slightly disgusted look on her face. "Maybe you two should take the baby-making behind the bleachers. Or at least do it under a towel, like a normal couple."
I turn to Violet, moving beside Gray so only one of his arms is draped around my shoulders. "What's up your ass?"
"Nothing, unfortunately," Violet sighs, examining her cobalt blue nails. Something is definitely up with her. She walks closer to us and sighs even louder. "When I'm a lonely old woman, will you let me live with you? I'll be like your guys' pet. I'll wear a leash and everything, and it won't even be sexual. Unless you want it to be."
Gray chuckles uncomfortably and I examine Violet's face. "Are you okay?"
"Are any of us ever okay?" She asks, looking up to the sky, suddenly all wistful and philosophical. I roll my eyes at her, knowing I won't get anywhere. Luckily, that's exactly when Peyton walks up, finished with her own game a few fields over. She glares at Violet, who obviously did something to piss her off.
Peyton folds her arms, joining our little circle. "What the fuck, Vi? Our kids had ten minutes left in their game and you just leave. Are you insane?"
"I don't know, Pey. Maybe ask your little girlfriend, who was giving you bedroom eyes the entire game," Violet whisper-shouts. As if on cue, Sadie calls Peyton's name, already walking toward where we're standing. Violet groans, exasperated. "Everyone is just rubbing their relationships in my face. Grayson is here. Sadie is here. Why don't we just go ahead and invite Mr. Dillard's ex-wife?!"
Peyton sighs. "Vi...what?" But Violet is already picking up her bag from the ground and turning to leave, clearly agitated. When she's gone, the three of us turn to each other, unsure of what just happened. At that exact moment, Sadie reaches us and slows to a stop, sensing some tension.
"Where'd Violet go?" Sadie asks, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"
Peyton grabs her hand and assures her, "No, you didn't do anything, Sadie. Violet's just...Violet."
"What happened?" I ask, leaning into Grayson's side. Looking at Peyton calming Sadie down and realizing mine and Gray's position, I can see how Violet feels that we're rubbing our relationships in her face.
"I don't know," Peyton admits. "After talking to Sadie, I suggested to Violet that the five of us have a group dinner tonight. You know, for everyone to hangout and get to know each other. Violet apparently did not like that idea. She just stormed off."
I frown. "A dinner with the five of us sounds great. You think she'll come?"
Peyton shrugs. "She said something about organizing her toenail collection tonight, so I'm guessing she can come. Whether she wants to come is a different story."
Grayson scratches his head, tilting his head thoughtfully. "I don't know Violet very well but I'd imagine being a third-wheel sucks pretty bad. I bet being a fifth-wheel is even worse."
"I agree," Sadie says sadly, resting her head on Peyton's shoulder.
"We should still go. I mean, I'd like to get to know Grayson. I thought Violet would like to get to know Sadie," Peyton replies wistfully. "She'll come around sooner or later."
I think about it, feeling bad for still doing the dinner without Violet. But she was invited and she just doesn't want to come, so it's not like we're leaving her out. "I guess."
Sadie beams, jumping slightly on the balls of her feet. "Okay, I'm so excited! I wish Violet could come, but there's a new super fancy restaurant downtown that Pey and I have been dying to check out. We could get all dressed up."
Feeling her good energy rub off on me, I can't help but feel excited as well. I look up at Gray and he looks down at me and nods. I smile at Sadie and Peyton. "Sounds perfect."
♔ ♕ ♔
After we leave the game, I drive home and mess around for a few hours, rifling through the depths of my closet trying to find the perfect outfit. I put on the High School Musical 3 soundtrack and blast it through my speakers. Something about the upbeat music inspires me to go all-out on my outfit for tonight.
Of course, I try calling Violet several times, and text her more frequently than I usually do, but she doesn't respond to anything. Peyton tells me she drove by Violet's house after practice, and Violet's car wasn't there.
I think about what she said about us rubbing our relationships in her face and I feel terrible. It's thirty minutes before Peyton is supposed to pick me up when I come up with a genius idea. In the middle of doing my makeup, I call Grayson and text Violet, hoping my plan falls into place perfectly.
Peyton arrives ten minutes late, as Peyton usually does. Sadie is in the passenger seat, so I slide carefully slide into the back seat, careful not to trip over my own 6-inch heels. After walking down my brick driveway, I'm already starting to regret my choice of attire. My feet are already killing me, and the tight hem of my dress is making it hard to get comfortable.
"You look amazing," Sadie says, at the same time Peyton warns, "Don't scratch my seats, bitch."
I say thank you to Sadie and compliment her indigo romper, before leaning forward to shove my middle finger in Peyton's face. She swats my hand away before starting the car. Before long, they're continuing an in-depth conversation over what type of dog breed they're going to get when they're married.
While enjoying the comfortable lull of their flirty banter, I decide not to tell them about my plan for Violet. I laugh, realizing I'm like Donkey sitting in the back of Shrek and Fiona's carriage as they head to Far Far Away. I think about how Peyton is most definitely Shrek, and I chuckle to myself.
Slowly, their banter gets more and more flirty, and I start feeling grossed out. When we finally pull in front of the restaurant, I practically fall out of the car, happy to be free of that romantic hell. Peyton tells me she's going to look for a place to park and that she's not paying for a valet.
Knowing how hard it is to find parking downtown and how rich Peyton's family is, I know Peyton just wants some more alone time with Sadie in the car. I just smile and wave as they drive away. Then I realize that I don't know when Gray will arrive, nor what name he made the reservation under. I smooth out the fabric of my dress nervously, wondering if I overdressed.
Then I hear the distinct rumble of Gray's Audi and feel more at ease. His blacked-out car pulls smoothly in front of the restaurant, fitting in among the other classy cars line up. My heart stammers in my chest, and I try not to look awkward.
When Gray steps out, I almost forget how to breathe. He slides smoothly from the car in an all-black suit, clearly tailored perfectly to his muscular body, completed with a dark red tie. His thick hair is tamed with a bit of hair gel, and his sharp facial features look more pronounced, and sexier, than ever. He looks like some hot mafia boss. My hot mafia leader.
Gray tosses his keys to an awaiting valet, who is staring at Gray's car with an open mouth. His striking grey eyes scan his surroundings for a second before landing on me. His mouth quirks slightly after he spots me, and he walks over without taking his eyes off me.
I look down at my fitted cocktail dress made of scarlet velvet and realize it's the same color as Gray's tie. My strappy high heels are black, matching the rest of Gray's suit. I'm feeling less and less uncertain about my outfit, now realizing how perfect we look together.
Grayson drinks me in with his eyes, placing his hands on my waist and noticing how well my dress hugs my body. He hasn't even said anything, and I already feel like the most beautiful girl in the world.
"You look.." Grayson takes a deep breath. "...breathtaking."
I wrap my arms around his shoulders, not caring who sees us. He leans down and presses a kiss to my lips. From the way he tenses under my hands, I can tell he's holding back in public. "You look pretty handsome yourself, Gray."
"I think red is my new favorite color," he says lowly, looking down at my dress again. I blush.
"I think black is mine." I playfully grab his tie and pull him down to me, stealing another kiss. We're both really driving each other wild.
Gray moves his hand from my waist, holding his arm out for me. "Shall we, my lady?"
I smile, wrapping my arm around his and leaning into him. We start walking and my heel catches on an uneven stone. I lose my balance and start falling forward, when Gray's arm loops around my waist and catches me. Pressing his hand into my hip in a way that throws me even more off-balance, Gray pulls me upright and presses me into him.
He looks at me with dark eyes. "Falling for me, Riv?"
I smile up at him teasingly. "What would give you that idea?"
We walk into the restaurant and I'm immediately intimidated. The room has dim and romantic lighting, and it's filled with women wearing heavy diamonds and men sporting large watches. It just feels like money in here. But looking at mine and Gray's attire, I realize that we look like we belong in here.
Thankfully, Gray made the reservation, and we're led straight to our table. It's a booth tucked intimately in the corner of the room, illuminated by a small, crystal chandelier. I slide in and laugh as Gray slides in after me, moving well past the middle of the seat and squishing me into the wall.
"Oh sorry," he says, acting clueless. "Am I bothering you? Would you like me to move over?"
"Considering you're basically on top of me, that'd be nice," I laugh, trying and failing at pushing him off me. In this position, my face is in his neck and I can smell his alluring cologne.
"Hmm, me on top of you?" He moves away and turns to me. "That's not a bad idea."
Gray's leaning his face down to mine, we're about to do what we'd both like to do all night, when someone clears their throat above us. People seem to be clearing their throat near me and Grayson a lot today.
"Can we sit down?" Peyton asks. "Or are there bodily fluids all over our seat and table?"
The hostess who brought them here scurries away. I stifle a laugh. Grayson answers, "Only a drop or two, you should be fine," and I almost lose it.
Sadie laughs and pulls Peyton into the booth. We make small talk for a while before we order. Gray tells them a bit about his street racing and his responsibilities with Gracie, playing cool and not going nearly in depth as he had with me, which I totally understand. Sadie tells us she will be going to school to be a vet --to no one's surprise-- and that she has probably the sweetest family in the entire world.
The whole night, Grayson keeps his hand on my thigh, making it quite hard to concentrate on anything being said.
Sadie's showing us pictures of her six siblings, all younger than her, when our food comes. We eat silently for a while, practically orgasming over the extraordinary food, and Grayson feeds me a few bites of his steak. I force him to try some of my pasta, and Peyton makes a comment about how whipped he is. Grayson eats the pasta anyway.
"So how'd y'all meet?" I ask when we've finished most of our food. "Tinder? Pey, I thought you said it was a just a jo--"
"Anyway," Peyton interrupts. "It was during flag football season when our school played Sadie's. It was a home game for us. I was on the practice field doing the preseason workout plan UNC gave me. You know, because I'm a serious committed athlete and all."
"Not this shit again..." I say.
"...and Sadie and her team walked by," Pey continues. "Of course, it was love at first sight and I had to talk to her."
Sadie snorts. "No way. You totally just shot your shot at my entire friend group. I was just the girl who was nice enough to get your ball when you 'accidentally' kicked it over to us."
"Minor details, babe," Peyton says. "And before I know it, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen comes running up to me, carrying my balls..."
"Gross," all three of us say at once.
"And hands it over to me. Like the smooth operator I am, I take the ball and go back to practicing. Kept her guessing," Peyton flips her hair.
"What are you on, Pey? You were shaking in your cleats when you were talking to me, and you almost tripped running back to your field," Sadie laughs, jabbing Peyton in the arm.
Peyton's green eyes sparkle. "After I smoothly got my ball back, I stayed to watch Sadie kick Conway High School's ass. I mean, I was kinda cheering for Sadie, even though she was beating our school, and she noticed."
Sadie smiles. "It was hard not to notice the cute girl in the Conway shirt, cheering for the rival team."
Peyton shrugs. "I have that effect on people. I'm just so charming and pretty and talented that she had to say yes when I asked for her number after the game."
Sadie has nothing to say to that, and her cheeks turn pink. Peyton kisses her cheek, indicating the end of their little meet-cute, and my heart is three degrees warmer just watching them.
"Ha, and you called me a simp-ass, Pey," I say. "Look who's talking now."
Grayson chuckles at my comment and presses a light kiss to my forehead right as the check comes.
Peyton makes a grab for it but Gray is faster, sliding it toward him in an instant and already pulling out his wallet. Peyton fake-glares at him, shaking her finger at him. "You win this time, Maddox. But next one's on me."
It makes me even happier seeing Gray and Peyton joke around like friends. Over this short dinner, I can tell Peyton really warmed up to the idea of Gray after listening to him talk about himself. This is all I could have hoped for, I just wish Violet were here to experience the same.
Just as I'm thinking about how much I miss Violet, my phone buzzes from a text from Violet. Perfect timing. Reading the message, I smile, thinking of how brilliant my plan for tonight is.
"Tommy is babysitting Gracie back at Gray's place, and I don't want to keep him waiting. Are y'all ready to go?" I ask, suddenly eager to get this show on the road. The waiter picks up our check, and all three of them nod.
I hope this perfect plan of mine works out.